Department of Defense officials have reduced the order from five E-7 Wedgetails to two in 2021 to cut costs. p>The Department of Defense (DoD) has been accused of wasting taxpayer money after it confirmed it would buy five multi-million dollar early warning radar systems for just three aircraft, placing two in storage.
In 2019, the DoD ordered five new long-range surveillance aircraft to replace obsolete «eye in the sky» aircraft.
The aircraft act as early warning systems for the military thanks to the powerful radar systems installed on each aircraft. that can detect threats hundreds of miles away.
Defense chiefs have reduced the order from five E-7 Wedgetails to two in 2021 to cut costs.
However, the MoD has confirmed that the UK will continue to procure radar systems for all five aircraft.
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Secretary of Defense James Cartlidge said: “At the time of the Comprehensive Review decision to scale down the UK E-7 Wedgetail program from five to three aircraft, MESA (Multi-Role Electronically Scanned Array) radars for aircraft four and five were in production.
“It has been determined that production and delivery of all five MESA radars will continue as planned, saving/offsetting initial purchases and spare parts from the total cost of the program.”
Reducing the Wedgetails order from five to two will reduce project budget by only 12.5%, reducing the cost from 2.16 to 1.89 billion pounds.
Although it is not known how much the radars cost, the figure suggests that the sensors are the most expensive part of the aircraft and are likely to cost several million pounds.
UK defense spending
This exercise was called by former Defense Secretary Mark «the mother of all false economy. François.
Mr François, who is also chairman of the defense subcommittee investigating the MoD procurement process, said: out of stock due to maintenance requirement — extremely dangerous.
«If we were to remain virtually blind in a future skirmish with Russia, it could still be the mother of all false economy.»
>E-7 Wedgetails gives the Royal Air Force a clearer picture of warships and fighter aircraft with a range of many hundreds of miles, providing critical operational information.
At a parliamentary defense committee meeting in March, retired Royal Navy Fighter Pilot Captain Dan Stembridge told MPs that three planes «simply aren't enough.»
He said, «It's not enough to be able to have an impact in two places at once. It can allow you to join the coalition and secure it, which is an important fact, but in principle it is not enough.”
Retired Air Force Lieutenant General David Deptula said that three aircraft “is not a reasonable reduction” , and said that «aircraft are absolutely necessary for the effective functioning of the NATO aviation enterprise.»
The aircraft will replace the aging E3 Sentry aircraft that the UK retired from service in 2021. The E-7 Wedgetails are expected to be converted from used Boeing 737 aircraft equipped with radar and defensive weapons.
It is hoped that another defense test could mean that the radar on order could be installed on new aircraft, bringing the number of Wedgetails back to five.
A government spokesman said: «The E-7 aircraft will provide the UK with one of the most advanced early warning systems in the world.
» A fleet of three aircraft will meet our key operational requirements and enable the UK to fulfill its national and international obligations.
“The decision to reduce the program from five to three aircraft saved about £720m, with two spare radars saved for future support needs, optimizing aircraft availability.»
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